


it's all uphill from here

by shewritesall



Series: Romanogers Short Stories [30]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Natasha Romanov Needs a Hug, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-10-01 18:43:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20369461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewritesall/pseuds/shewritesall
Summary: When best friends Steve and Natasha start high school, they aren't fully prepared for what's about to hit them.  Luckily for their friendship, both are stubborn and absolutely refuse to give up their friendship (and possibly more) no matter what happens in these next four years.





	1. Year 1

The first day of high school starts out rough. Natasha accidentally sleeps through her alarm which makes her rush to shower and dress (thank goodness she planned her outfit last night, though, or she'd rather just call in sick) and Steve wakes up with a bad cold. It wasn't uncommon for Natasha to show up at Steve's doorstep five minutes after they were supposed to leave for the bus stop, but there's something different about it when it's high school. The panic that they're going to be late even though they know the bus runs ten minutes late the first day of the week anyway is almost unbearable as Sarah Rogers forces Steve to take an extra dose of medicine and promise to call her if he gets worse.

"Your hair is curly," Steve states as they walk quickly to the end of their street. Natasha reaches up and gingerly touches her short red hair. She had meant to straighten it for the first day, but she hadn't had time and now it was a curly mess.

"I didn't have time," Natasha grumbles, trying to smooth it down without making it worse.

"I like it curly," Steve grins, reaching up and tugging gently on one of the curls. It bounces and Steve's grin widens. The first time he'd ever played with her curls was in first grade and boy did that turn out good for him (she's his best friend now and lets him play with them whenever he's bored).

"Well I don't," Natasha reminds him. Steve shrugs and they fall into silence. The walk isn't cold yet, it's still too early in the year to see their breaths, but that doesn't mean they take their time (they're also running late, so they really should be moving faster).

They make it to the bus stop just as the bus comes into view. It's a new bus driver and even though most of the kids already on board are familiar to Steve and Natasha, it feels weird. They take their normal seat about for rows back and stuff their backpacks under the seat in front of them. Before the bus is back on the highway, Steve has his sketchbook out and Natasha is reading a new novel just like they always do on the way to school.

When the bus stops outside of the high school, they almost forget to get off. It's only because Natasha had become anxious and set aside her book they are able to scramble off with the other high schoolers before the bus speeds away to drop off the elementary kids.

"Are you ready for high school?" Steve grins. He still has to look up at Natasha despite his mother reassuring him he's been growing. Natasha grins back and nods.

"Let's do this," she exclaims, grabbing Steve's hand and pulling him into the large building.

* * *

They don't have any classes together the second semester. The first semester, they were lucky to have lunch and PE together, but when the second semester rolls around, they're on their own. Of course, they see each other in the halls and Steve walks Natasha to her first class every day after homeroom (at least they have that together), but it's not the same. Homework is the same, but the stories from their classes are different and Steve feels awkward when Natasha tells him about her new science partner Alexei Shostakov.

"He's Russian like me, Steve!" she says happily after the second week. They're walking home from the bus stop and Steve is shivering despite wearing his winter jacket over Natasha's furry hoodie.

"That's nice," Steve mumbles, slipping on some ice. He flails but catches his balance, something he's been getting better at. He also hasn't been getting sick as often as he used to.

"Sometimes, we'll talk to each other in Russian to confuse the others or to keep answers to ourselves," Natasha explains. She goes on to tell Steve how some of the kids in her class like to try and cheat off of them, listening to what they tell each other they got for each problem then writing it down as well. "You should have seen their faces when Alexei busted out in full Russian."

"Remember when we did that last year in Mr. Heald's class?" Steve suddenly exclaims. Natasha grins and nods.

"I'm glad Mama taught you Russian too," she tells him honestly, nudging him slightly. Steve turns a brilliant shade of red and ends up falling into a nearby snowbank when Natasha accidentally knocks into him while laughing. By the time they both stumble into Steve's house, they're soaked to the bone from an impromptu snowball fight. If Sarah Rogers was surprised, she hid it well and started on some homemade hot cocoa.

* * *

Alexei is a bigger hassle than Steve first thought he would be. By April, he's joined them for studying a total of five times and every time he manages to charm Natasha's mom into giving him her special homemade candies. Steve doesn't voice his annoyance to Natasha, not wanting to ruin a perfectly good friendship of hers just because he's jealous. Instead, he vents to his Ma who advises he talk to Natasha himself.

"But I don't want her to feel like I hate him!" Steve exclaims. His Ma just smiles and kisses his forehead (she almost has to reach up now, so he really is growing).

"I still think it's best you talk to her," Sarah says. Steve just grumbles and wanders off to his room to finish a drawing he's been working on for Natasha. He never does approach her about Alexei but he tells his Ma he does. Sarah just hums and gives him a disbelieving look, but doesn't voice her concern.

* * *

When the last day of their first year of high school comes around, Steve couldn't be happier. Alexei is going to Russia to stay with his grandparents and Natasha will be staying at his house while her mom goes to Russia to get their affairs in order. Both Natasha and her mother are planning to get citizenship during the summer but after a complication with Mrs. Romanova's divorce and leaving the country so hurriedly, she has to return and make sure everything is in order for the citizenship transfer. Natasha doesn't have to go and Mrs. Rogers doesn't hesitate to offer her house.

"I don't mind at all, Svetlana," Sarah assures Mrs. Romanova. Steve just grins at Natasha and they disappear into his room while their mothers talk. Steve's pretty sure he and Natasha are going to have a great summer.


	2. Year 2

Alexei made sure to write Natasha every week during the summer and Natasha happily returned the favour. Steve and Natasha did have fun together during the summer, but every time Natasha received the thick envelope from Russia, Steve would leave the house for a couple of hours. He wasn't mad at her or Alexei for the letters, he was mostly mad with himself for getting jealous. He and Natasha had been friends so long he couldn't remember a time without her. It was still weird seeing her become so close to another boy.

"You straightened your hair," is the first thing Steve says on their first day of school. Sure enough, Natasha's shoulder-length red hair is perfectly straight. She hadn't grown an inch over summer much to her chagrin and this time, Steve's a few inches taller than her.

"I woke up on time," she replies, elbowing him. Steve elbows her right back but that only starts a fight to see who can push who over first. Steve wins when Natasha stumbles off the sidewalk and trips over the curb. He's quick enough to grab her, making sure she doesn't actually fall, and Natasha smiles.

"Couldn't let you scrape your elbows on the first day," Steve teases. Natasha rolls her eyes and leads them onto the bus toward their regular seat. Just as he always does, Steve pulls out his sketchbook and starts to draw. A few minutes later, he realises Natasha's on her phone rather than reading and asks what she's doing.

"I'm texting Alexei," she answers. Steve resists the urge to sigh. Even their normal morning routine is ruined by Alexei's ever-growing presence. "What are you drawing?" She peers over his shoulder and Steve blushes when he remembers he'd been drawing her latest dance recital.

"Like it?" he asks, shifting so she can see the page better.

"I love it!" Natasha exclaims, grabbing the notepad to look at it closer. Steve watches happily as she looks over his art in awe before carefully handing his sketchbook back over to her. "Can I have it when you're done?"

"Sure," Steve replies. He'd been planning to save it and add it to his collection of art he'd done revolving around her recitals and dances, but he supposes giving her just the one drawing won't hurt. Besides, the collection was going to be her birthday gift anyway. Might as well give her something a little early so she's even more excited when she sees the real gift.

* * *

Of course, the day Natasha's birthday rolls around, Alexei shows up at lunch. He'd been joining them more often, sitting behind Natasha in class even though he knows that's where Steve always sits. He hands her a small box and urges her to open it right then. She does and Steve watches as she unwraps the gift. Inside is the autobiography of one of Natasha's favourite ballerina's and a sterling silver necklace with a pointe shoe charm. Natasha lets out a small gasp and a second later, she's pulled Alexei into a hug and is thanking him in rapid Russian.

_"How did you know I've been wanting her book?"_ Natasha asks in Russian, gently fingering the book like it's made of gold.

"I asked your Mom," Alexei admits. Steve just busies himself with his sandwich. He didn't need to ask Ms. Romanova (now fully divorced thanks to her trip back to Russia) to know Natasha had been eyeing the book ever since it was pre-released.

"Well, thank you," Natasha says, carefully stuffing the book in her backpack.

Later that day, once Alexei's left and it's just Steve and Natasha upstairs in Natasha's bedroom, Steve pulls out the gift he'd made for her. It's bulky as he had struggled to find a way to put together all the art he'd done, but he's proud of it. When Natasha first unwraps it, he's worried she hates it because she doesn't react. Slowly, she opens up the handmade scrapbook his mother had helped him put together and looks at all the pencil drawings Steve's done of her dancing over the past year.

"You like it?" Steve asks nervously once she's finally closed the book. Natasha looks up with wide eyes and hugs the book carefully.

"I love it," she whispers. Steve grins and hands her the second package. This one is bigger, but it only holds one piece of art and Steve is particularly proud of it. Natasha carefully unwraps it to reveal an abstract painting of a ballerina. There are bright colours covering the page but it isn't hard to make out the perfect ballerina on the right of the canvas. Stretched in the most beautiful arabesque, her arm and leg fully extended, is a red-headed ballerina in a white tutu.

"It's from _Swan Lake_ last spring," Steve explains. Natasha nods and gingerly fingers the painting. She remembers it. Her ballet studio had put on a production of _Swan Lake_ in the spring and although it was hell studying for finals and practicing for the dance, Natasha had been cast as Odette. It had been one of the proudest moments of her life.

"It's going to hang right over my bed," Natasha tells him, getting up to set it on her desk until she can put a nail in the wall. The scrapbook is set right beside it and before Steve can process what she's doing, Natasha's thrown her arms around his neck and is hugging him tightly.

Steve just laughs and hugs her back, happy his gift made her so happy. The reminder that Alexei had gotten her a much more expensive gift doesn't even cross his mind. She had absolutely adored his gifts and that's all that mattered at the moment.

* * *

It's spring break and Steve is busy reading in his room when his phone rings. Natasha's contact flashes across the phone screen and he doesn't bother sticking a bookmark in his book before answering. He's unable to say a word before she's talking.

"Alexei and I are dating!" she exclaims. Steve's mouth goes dry and he can't form the words he wants (if he even knew what he wanted to say). "I know I've been secretive recently but that's because Alexei wanted to see if we could actually work out before making it official. I wanted to tell you, but I haven't even told my mom yet, so you're still the first to know."

"Um," Steve stutters, forcing himself not to be upset she hadn't told him she'd been going out with Alexei earlier. "Congrats."

"You don't sound very excited," Natasha replies and Steve can practically see her deflating even though she's halfway across town right now (probably on her way home from a date with Alexei now that he thinks about it).

"I'm just surprised," Steve says, which isn't a complete lie. He is very shocked, but he's also kind of upset. His Ma had only just revealed to him the reason he's been so jealous of Alexei is that he had a crush on Natasha.

"So you're alright with it?"

"Of course," Steve lies through his teeth. He knows how much Natasha values his opinion, but right now his opinion is just going to hurt her and he will _not_ let that happen. "You know I don't control what you do."

"I still want you to be alright with it," Natasha says quietly. Steve can't help but smile at the sentiment. Even if he couldn't be her boyfriend, he wanted her to be happy. Just because Alexei gave him a weird vibe and made him annoyed didn't mean he was bad for Natasha. Steve had met plenty of people he didn't get along with very well; it was just unfortunate Natasha's boyfriend happened to be one of those people.

"I'll be alright with whatever makes you happy," Steve replies and even though it kills him that he's not what makes her happy, he's never said anything truer in his life.

* * *

Before the school year ends, Steve has made two new friends in his classes (the ones without Natasha). He supposes Sam and Bucky had always been acquaintances, people he'd hang out with in middle school but never devoted as much time to as he did Natasha, but now they're friends. Sam is funny and Bucky is kind and the two of them is the exact kind of chaos his Ma would discourage. She mentions Natasha every now and then after particularly rough nights with the two boys over, but Steve just reminds his Ma she's been busy with dance and Alexei. They're still friends and he still walks her to the bus stop and to her first class after homeroom, but it's not the same as it had been three months ago.

"Buck, you can't expect to get away with everything," Steve says after Bucky fondly recounts the tale of why he had skipped English and been in the principal's office instead. Steve has tried to tell him before that pranks on teachers don't end well, but Sam does the exact opposite.

"Next time, you just have to hide your face when you set it up," Sam suggests. Steve glares at Sam who grins in return. 

"Hey, next year," Bucky suddenly exclaims, drawing their attention away from pranks and bad ideas. "We should try out for soccer."

"Why not football? No one cares about soccer," Sam tells him. Bucky rolls his eyes and throws his notebook at Sam (they were supposed to be studying, but that plan had been thrown out the window with the first wad of paper that had been thrown two hours ago).

"Because soccer is the national sport of every country except America," Bucky reminds him, "Besides, I have a good chance of making Captain and I don't want to be out there alone."


	3. Year 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Includes rape/implied sexual and physical abuse

Compared to their first year of high school, Steve had grown a lot. Thanks to Bucky wanting to participate in a local weight lifting competition over the summer but not wanting to work out alone, Steve had filled out his now six-foot-tall form and was being pressured to join the football team. He hadn't seen Natasha over the summer as often as he wanted to, but he knew she had matured a lot as well. He'd texted her a couple of times to see if she wanted to hang out, but after the third time she'd been busy with Alexei, he'd stopped.

For a while, Steve had worried their friendship was over; at the very least they'd been reduced to acquaintances. Then, one the first day of their third year of high school, Natasha had knocked on his door exactly five minutes late and given him a shy smile. Steve had barely managed to keep himself from hugging her as they walked toward the bus stop together and chatted like nothing had changed. However, the day had been disrupted when Alexei came to pick up Natasha from homeroom and walk her to class.

"See you after?" she asked, looking at Steve hopefully. He had agreed to meet Sam and Bucky after school to study, but he knew they wouldn't mind having Natasha join (if anything, they'd be more excited than him about finally meeting the famous Natasha).

"Yeah," he said. He nodded at Alexei then disappeared to let Alexei take over his old duty of walking Natasha to class.

That afternoon, he, Sam, and Bucky are holed up in his room, struggling to stay focused. Natasha still hadn't shown up even though they got home nearly an hour ago. Sam and Bucky are relentlessly teasing him when there's a soft knock on his door. They both shut up immediately and all three turn to see who enters, half expecting Ms. Rogers to walk in. Instead, Natasha pokes her head through the door and smiles shyly, something Steve hasn't seen her do since about the third grade (or that morning; but other than that, third grade).

"Sorry I'm late," she said, shutting the door behind her and joining Steve on his bed. Sam and Bucky share a smile and Steve gives him both sharp looks.

"Don't worry about it," Bucky assures her, grinning at Steve from where he's sat on the floor. "We were too busy talking to study anyway."

"Yeah, Steve here has a crush and we can't just let that slide," Sam chimes in. Steve decides right then and there he's going to kill them both the second Natasha leaves if they reveal his secret. Instead, Natasha seems immediately intrigued and joins the boys in teasing Steve.

"Aw! Do I know her?" she asks. Steve mumbles out a 'yeah' and Natasha grins wider. She throws all sorts of questions out at him: what's she like? How long has he known her? Does she share any of his crush's classes? Steve gives vague answers to all of them and is incredibly thankful when Natasha doesn't pry further. Sam and Bucky look about ready to lose their shit as they struggle not to give any more clues than Steve does.

"Shouldn't we actually do our homework?" Steve asks in a weak attempt to redirect the conversation. It doesn't work, but Steve's not surprised. Instead, he's forced to endure Bucky, Sam, and Natasha bond by teasing him. At the very least, he's glad Natasha gets along with his new friends.

* * *

That fall, Natasha joins Sam and Bucky at Steve's house every other day after school. She's late a lot which isn't new, but it does bother Steve a little. Something about how she's always a little more reserved when she first arrives makes him feel like something's wrong. He can't be sure if it's just because he hates she's coming from something with Alexei or if it's actually a worthwhile concern. However, after five minutes, she's teasing him just as ruthlessly as Sam and Bucky are and all is well again.

"When's your next performance, Tash?" Sam asks. They're piled on top of the couch in the living room, all squished together to watch an old horror movie Bucky swore by. Natasha is pressed between Steve and Bucky, more on Steve's lap than Steve would feel comfortable admitting.

"December," Natasha answers before promptly shoveling popcorn into her mouth. "It's the _Nutcracker_ and you had better all be there because I'm Clara."

"Obviously we wouldn't miss it for the world," Steve assures her. He shifts and Natasha ends up completely in his lap. Steve feels his face heat up, but Natasha hardly blinks at the new arrangement so he calms down and just enjoys the fact they're best friends again.

"We'll be at the front of the doors to make sure we get the best seats," Sam promises. He shoves her feet off his lap in disgust but doesn't fight when she puts them right back. "How many seats are we saving?"

"Six," Natasha tells him, listing off the three of them followed by her mom, Ms. Rogers, and then Alexei. Maybe its the way Natasha's so relaxed in his arms or the way she's curled into his chest on her own accord, but the mention of Alexei doesn't immediately upset him.

Bucky shushes them all as he finally figures out how to get to the main menu of the movie and presses play. Steve definitely doesn't relish every moment Natasha hides her face in his chest at the jump scares or the way she clings to him moments before.

* * *

It's spring when Steve realises his concern for Natasha is worthwhile. Even though it's getting warmer out, she still wears long sleeves. She wears shorts on particularly warm days, but her shirts are always long. She even continues to wear her long-sleeved dance leotard to practice (he only knows this because sometimes she goes straight to his house afterward and is still wearing her leo). She's even later to their study groups, nearing two hours even though they now meet after soccer practice.

"Natasha's been acting strange, hasn't she?" Steve suddenly voices one afternoon. He'd just gotten a text saying she wasn't going to make it due to extra practice for her spring dance recital. Steve doesn't tell her he can see her location and she's not at the studio. He just says 'okay' and lets her continue whatever is more important than their study group.

"I mean, I didn't know her before this year, but she does act a little strange," Sam admits. Bucky hums in agreement and that only concerns Steve more. He decides to keep a closer eye on her and maybe even recruit Yelena, one of Natasha's dance friends, even though he doesn't know her very well.

* * *

It's a Sunday morning in the middle of April and Steve's mom is gone. The only reason he's up so late is because he'd been out until two in the morning with Bucky and Sam. He'd caught a taxi from Sam's house home to find a note from his mom saying she's gone to New Jersey to visit an old friend and might not be home until tomorrow. He just shrugs and makes himself comfortable in the living room with his sketchbook and begins drawing.

The slamming of a car door draws his attention next door to Natasha's house and he looks up just in time to see Alexei storming into her house. Steve knows Ms. Romanova is gone all day and he's willing to bet Alexei is to. It's not uncommon knowledge that Ms. Romanova has been taking weekends upstate to meet with her new partner in a place that doesn't make Natasha feel awkward. Steve tries to go back to drawing, but the bad feeling in his gut won't go away no matter how hard he tries to ignore it. With an irritated groan, he sets aside his sketchbook and walks next door to Natasha's house.

He doesn't knock. He hasn't knocked in over seven years and just because Alexei's there doesn't mean he'll start now. Instead, he slips inside silently, trying to keep his presence unknown lest he walks in on them in the middle of a fight and wants to leave quickly. He was planning on going upstairs even before hearing the dull _thud_ from above and wastes no time in hurrying to Natasha's room as silently as possible.

Her door is shut, but he can hear muffled voices from inside. He presses his ear to the door and listens closely. He doesn't mean to invade, really, he just wants to make sure his gut is being stupid and Natasha's completely fine.

* * *

Natasha had been trying to catch up on much-needed sleep when Alexei had stormed into her room. She had scrambled awake, clutching at her blankets as Alexei stalked up to her then grabbed her arm roughly. He pressed on old bruises and Natasha gasped, trying to free herself from his vice-like grip and stop the pain. It was hard enough hiding the purple and black bruises already; she didn't need him to make them worse and therefore more difficult to hide.

"Alexei," she gasps, curling in on herself as he pulled her from her bed. With her mom gone and being holed up in her room, she hadn't bothered covering up and was wearing short pyjama shorts and a camisole tank.

Alexei doesn't seem to care that he's making her uncomfortable as he pushes his hands under her thin tank top. She doesn't bother fighting back, having learned long ago it wasn't worth the pain that came from it. Instead, she's silently thanking herself for being too tired to take off her bra and making it a little more difficult for him to undress her than it could have been. Unfortunately, only a few seconds after thinking this, his hand reaches around and unlatches the clasp with ease. His hands move from her back to under her bra and Natasha can't help but squirm uncomfortably.

"_Don't resist me_," he growls in Russian, letting go of her chest to hit her head hard. She stumbles back and just as she looks back up, Alexei hits her again and uses his leg to trip her. She hits the ground with a dull _thud_ and Alexei towers above her.

He grabs her arm with an angry sneer and pulls her back up onto the bed. Her eyes close tightly as she falls backward onto the bed and feels Alexei climb on top of her. With her mom gone, there's no telling what he'll do. He's unpredictable when alone; sometimes he'll just touch her for a while then get bored and leave. Other times, she's forced into more than she wants (although almost everything Alexei does to her is forced now).

"_Undress me_," he demands, leaning close enough she can feel his breath on her neck. "_You know I like it better when you do it_."

"Please, just one week without," Natasha says softly. Alexei growls and bites down on her neck hard enough Natasha worries he broke the skin. She hisses in pain but doesn't yell. As she slowly reaches up with shaking hands to pull off his shirt, Alexei sucks on her neck like he owns her. She still has the last two marks he'd left behind and was struggling to keep those covered with the make-up she had to buy. Now she'd have to get more.

Natasha's just pulled off his shirt when Alexei slips his hand under her panties and begins to finger her. Natasha doesn't move, doesn't even try to shift away as he pushes more fingers and soon his entire hand into her. She can't stop the cry that escapes her when he fists her particularly hard, but she knows he won't mind. It's almost as if he likes knowing she's against this.

"Alexei, please no," she begs. He's threatening to pull off her bottoms with his free hand and even if he's done it a thousand times, she still hopes her begging will convince him at least once. "Please stop."

Alexei's face darkens but before he can make things worse, her bedroom door flies open. Terrified it's her mother who's come home early and is about to yell at her for not giving Alexei what he rightfully deserves again, Natasha covers her face with her hands and tries to hide. She can feel Alexei pull his hand out as she covers her face, but a few seconds later, he's being thrown off of her and Natasha looks up in surprise.

It's not her mother that had entered to room, but Steve. She can tell right away he knows she wasn't a willing participant based on the glare he's giving Alexei. He stands between her and Alexei who is now on the floor.

"Get out," Steve demands, grabbing Alexei's arm and shoving him toward the door. He grabs Alexei's shirt and throws it at him.

"You shouldn't have intervened," Alexei snaps. He looks behind Steve and glares at Natasha like it's her fault Steve had shown up.

"You shouldn't have tried to hurt her," Steve replies, stepping to the side and blocking Alexei's view of Natasha. Alexei scoffs.

"Oh, I wasn't hurting her that bad," Alexei says. Steve's jaw tightens and Alexei sneers, "This isn't going to stop me. One time isn't going to keep her safe, Rogers."

"If you so much look at her again, I will make sure you regret it," Steve threatens. Alexei chuckles but doesn't continue to challenge Steve. Maybe he doesn't think it's worth it or maybe Steve's height and muscle mass intimidate him a bit, but Alexei turns and leaves the house, slamming Natasha's door behind him.

With Alexei gone, Steve turns to face Natasha. Aside from the fact her bra is unclasped and her pyjama bottoms are a little crooked, she's fully clothed. She doesn't feel like it, though, and tries to hide from Steve's gaze.

"Nat," Steve sighs softly. He sits on the bed beside her and looks at her with so much worry and guilt that Natasha can't stop herself from starting to cry. He tentatively reaches out for her, unsure if Natasha wants him nearby or not, but she practically throws herself into his arms and he can't wrap his arms around her fast enough.

She's shaking and Steve's pretty sure it's not because she's crying. He'd be pretty shaken up as well if he'd been in Natasha's place and based on the multiple bruises that littered her arms, this hadn't been the first time Alexei had abused her. It's hard not to run after Alexei and hurt him for what Steve knows he's probably done in the past, but Natasha is clinging to him and she's more important than getting revenge on some asshole speeding away.

A long-time passes before Natasha's able to breathe normally again and her face isn't totally soaked in tears. She pulls away from Steve and whispers an apology to covering his t-shirt in snot and tears. Steve brushes her off and gently cups her face to make sure she's alright. He knows it's stupid to ask if she's okay, but he does and she nods. He frowns at the blatant lie and in a very un-Natasha-like way, she struggles to stutter out a defense.

"It's not that bad," she tries to assure him, looking down at her lap instead of at him. "He's not that horrible. He's nice to me; sometimes I just upset him or he has a rough day. He really didn't hurt me that bad this time."

Steve knew without asking it hadn't been the first time Alexei had assaulted her, but hearing her indirectly confirm that concern makes him worry more.

"Natasha, what he was doing isn't okay," Steve reminds her, gently brushing her cheek with his thumb. She glances back up at him briefly then quickly looks away. "You don't have to defend him; please don't. He hurt you and you have the right to be upset by it."

"But I'm not!" she exclaims suddenly. She immediately backs down and Steve feels a part of him die inside. She looks away again as says, "I know I should be, but I'm not. He always says things like he's just having a bad day or that I'd made him angry so I deserved it. I can't be mad at him and I don't understand why."

Steve's not a professional on the topic of abuse, but based on what little he knows, he's not surprised by what Natasha says. He knows it's not uncommon for an abuser to make the victim blame themself.

"Hey, it's okay," Steve tells her, pulling her back to his chest. She tenses for a second then melts into him. "He's gone now. You're gonna be okay."

They stay in Natasha's room for the rest of the day. Most of the time is spent in silence, but after a while, Steve can't help himself and asks how long Alexei had been hurting her. Natasha doesn't go into detail, but from what Steve can gather, it's been almost a year. For most of the time they'd been dating, Alexei had either hit her or assaulted her. Steve doesn't ask further questions and Natasha doesn't go into further detail.

* * *

The year ends with Alexei getting arrested for drug abuse. Sam never outright admitted it, but Steve's pretty sure Sam was the one who called the cops on him. How the drugs got into Alexei's car, Steve isn't sure he wants to know. However, the week before, Sam and Bucky had been too busy after soccer practice to study and now they seem much more cheery than usual. Steve decides not to get after them for framing Alexei, especially after the drug test comes back positive. Some things are better left unsaid.

Of course, Steve never told the two what he'd discovered merely a month ago. He mentioned something about how Alexei and Natasha had quit dating due to some personal thing (his exact words, actually), and somehow they'd put the pieces together. Steve isn't exactly sure what gave it away, but there's a small list of things that could have made them suspicious. First of all, Steve had attacked Alexei the next morning at school and they'd both been suspended for three days. With Steve no longer at school, he had practically begged Sam and Bucky to make sure Natasha was alright and to walk her to every class (they'd been a little put-off by the idea, but agreed nevertheless). Second, Natasha had arrived at every after school study appointment on time or early. She often rode the bus home with them and was much less shy around the three of them. The third--and probably the biggest one--was that once Steve and Alexei had both returned to school, Alexei had tried talking to Natasha. That had only ended in Alexei screaming at her in Russian while Natasha tried to escape him. Sam and Bucky had stepped in moments later and managed to shut Alexei up long enough Steve could help get Natasha away.

In the end, the four became a whole lot closer. Natasha spent more time at Steve's house than ever before (which was partly upon his insistence). With her mom gone and busy with a new partner, Natasha was sent to spend nights with the Rogers. Steve had also learned that Ms. Romanova had supported Alexei, a fact he'd learned when Natasha showed up one night teary-eyed and begging to stay over. After a brief questioning of what was wrong, Natasha had admitted she'd told her mom her and Alexei had broken up and her mother had gone on a rampage about how Alexei deserved better if all it took was an uncomfortable situation for Natasha to end things with him.

"You're better off here anyway," Steve had said, letting her curl up beside him on the couch. She'd spent nearly every night after at his house and if Ms. Rogers was suspicious, she said nothing.


	4. Year 4

The last year of high school starts off rough. Natasha had spent almost every day and night at the Rogers' house and her mother had decided it wasn't a good thing. Fortunately, Natasha was nearly eighteen years old and Ms. Rogers had stood up to Ms. Romanova in Natasha's defense. The short argument had ended when Sarah threatened to call the cops on Svetlana's negligence unless she promised to leave the two kids alone. After that, Natasha had officially moved into the spare bedroom.

On the first day of their last year, Alexei is out of jail. He manages to approach Natasha during the one class she has without one of her three boys and pulls her into an empty room. If the teachers notice either of them missing from first period, none of them say anything. It isn't until second block when Sam notices she isn't in class that their disappearance is noticed. Steve gets a text in the middle of his English class from Sam only to get one a second later from Natasha.

"Can I use the restroom?" Steve asks. The teacher eyes him suspiciously, probably aware Steve has his phone out, but Steve leaves before he's stopped.

He runs into Sam in the hallway and the two run to where Natasha had said she was. Steve doesn't allow himself to panic as he opens the closet door and sees Natasha in a heap on the floor. Her hair is a mess and her shirt is on crooked. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened when she looks up and reveals a giant purple hickey on the side of her neck. Steve drops to his knees in front of her and wraps his arms around her protectively. Sam stands guard in the doorway while Natasha cries and Steve tries uselessly to comfort her.

"Natasha, what happened?" Steve asks, mentally preparing himself for the answer he knows he's going to get.

"Alexei," is all she has to say for Steve to hate himself. If he hadn't been so confident things were going to be better this year, he would have remembered the look on Alexei's face when they'd walked into the school building that morning. He would have made sure she was safely in her class and laughing with Maria before leaving to his own. Instead, he had just waved then left for his math class.

After Natasha had stopped crying, Steve and Sam took her home. Bucky calls during third period, demanding to know where they were at. Sam walks out of Steve's bedroom where Natasha was no more than a head poking out of a blanket in Steve's lap. They hadn't parted since the first moment Steve had hugged her and Sam was pretty sure they weren't planning on it. It doesn't matter because when Bucky arrives thirty minutes later, he's carrying enough candy and soda to last even the four of them a day or two.

"How ya feelin', Nat?" Bucky asks Natasha, handing her a package of Sweet Tart ropes candy. She takes it from him and shifts so she's sitting upright beside Steve instead of lying on his lap.

"Horrible," Natasha mumbles, curling closer to Steve. She grimaces but none of the boys say anything. Instead, Bucky gives her a soft smile and hands over her favourite soda.

"You know," Bucky begins, "There was this one time I thought it would be funny to prank Mr. Taylor. Yeah, turns out it wasn't a very great idea because I..."

Bucky launches into story after story about the times he'd tried pranking all his least favourite teachers. The group is familiar with some of them, but the distraction works and pretty soon, Natasha's laughing along with them just as carefree as if it were a regular study session.

* * *

Winter comes and Sam bets Bucky had can't use a baking sheet as a sled. It's Christmas break and they're all a little worn out from extra homework the last few days of school, so no one objects to the bet. Steve brings his own sled and Sam brings the baking sheet. As it turns out, Bucky brings his own as well so they arrive at the sledding hill with one sled and two baking sheets. The snow is too fluffy for the baking sheets the first few times, so Steve paves the way by doing a couple of runs on his real sled. Once the sledding trail is fully formed and ready to use, Bucky sets down his baking sheet and gets ready.

"You gonna film this, Wilson?" Bucky asks, struggling to fit his whole body on the narrow sheet. Sam already has his phone out and doesn't bother answering. Bucky gives him two thumbs up then starts down the hill.

It turns out the baking sheets work wonderfully. Steve and Natasha decide to stick to the normal sled, but Sam and Bucky are having too much fun on the metal sheets to heed their warnings. It's their fifth time down and Sam suggests they go at the same time. Steve doesn't have enough time to tell them it's a bad idea before they're flying down the hill together. Unfortunately, luck is not on their side and Sam hits a bump. He spirals out of control, knocking Bucky off his baking sheet and sending him flying. Natasha and Steve wait to go running down after them until they see blood on the snow.

Bucky is fine, but Sam is missing half a tooth and his lip is bleeding from where the chipped tooth stabbed him. Natasha packs a snowball for him to hold on his mouth then gathers up the baking sheets. Steve grabs his sled and Bucky helps guide Sam back to the car so they can make an impromptu trip to the hospital.

They end up being told Sam's lip will need stitches and a dentist will have to fix his tooth. Mrs. Wilson shows up ten minutes after Bucky calls her and scolds them both for doing something so stupid. Steve and Natasha split a bag of Dorito's from the vending machine, watching in amusement as both of their friends are yelled at in the front lobby in front of several guests. (Sam's lip is fine after a couple of days, but the dentists can't fix his tooth until after Christmas so he struggles to eat anything that isn't a smoothie; Steve's unamused, Natasha just laughs, and Bucky doesn't let him live it down.)

* * *

Natasha's spring recital is more important this year. She gets her role soon after school starts back up and practices hard every day. She's applied to various dance schools all over the world in hopes of getting an offer as well as enough scholarships to cover almost all the costs. With her dancing one of the leading roles in _Sleeping Beauty_ for her studio's advanced dance recital, everything kind of hinges on a flawless performance.

Steve's already incredibly proud of her. She's danced her entire life and moved up the ranks so quickly that as of last year, she'd been sponsored to attend a more prestigious dance academy in New York. It's about an hour away by subway, but she goes every day and every evening she comes back absolutely glowing. She's never been more exhausted and Steve's worried she's pushing herself too hard, but he's also never seen her so alive and happy so he doesn't ask her to stop.

"I'm fine, Steve," she assures him one evening after he voices his concern. She's only just arrived back from practice even though he knows her class ended three hours ago. It's only eight o'clock in the evening, but her eyes are drooping and she's falling asleep on his bed. They're supposed to be working on a lab project together, but Natasha can hardly focus.

"Just don't burn yourself out, alright?" he asks. She nods and looks back down at the notebook lying underneath her. She picks up her pencils and scribbles another note from her textbook. When Steve asks her a question only two minutes later, she's fast asleep. He smiles and quietly gets up from his desk. He knew she'd fall asleep which is why he'd insisted she take his bed while he took the desk.

Carefully, so as not to wake her up, he moves her notebook and sets it aside. Next, he grabs her textbook and puts it on the floor before pulling a spare blanket over her. She moans happily and relaxes even more. Steve smiles and softly kisses her cheek, something he's started doing more often.

"Goodnight," he whispers, turning off his desk light and walking across the hall to her room. When she wakes up in his room the next morning, she'll be confused about why they switched rooms. Until then, though, Steve wasn't going to risk waking her up just so he could spend the night in his own bed. Besides, with free-range in her bedroom, he can steal back all his hoodies she's slowly started stashing away.

* * *

If you asked Steve what he was most afraid of, he would probably say something like snakes or failure. However, if you asked him at this exact moment, he'd probably say asking Natasha to senior prom. He wasn't even sure how Sam and Bucky had managed to convince him this was a good idea, but somehow he'd ended up standing in front of the doors to her dance studio waiting for practice to end. It's not common for him to pick her up after dance, especially ever since she'd switched to the studio an hour away, but special times called for special... whatever you would call this. Pick ups? That sounded stupid.

He wasn't sure how he'd know when her class was over, but he figured he could wait until at least five o'clock. Unfortunately for him, by the time five o'clock rolls around, his nerves are so bad he can hardly walk correctly. He's never felt so terrified walking into a dance studio and immediately wants to backtrack when he walks in on a bunch of girls talking loudly and moving around a locker room. The girls almost all stop to stare, but Natasha is at his side before they can ask him anything.

"Hey," she grins, wrapping her arms around one of his. She's still wearing her black dance leotard and pink tights, so Steve knows her class only just got out. She's even still wearing her pointe shoes.

"You're out on time," he states stupidly. She rolls her eyes and guides him back outside, careful not to step out of the studio in her pointe shoes.

"Early, actually," she corrects. She glances over her shoulder into the locker room then turns back to Steve. "Give me two minutes."

He nods and the door shuts in his face. He waits outside the studio anxiously and exactly two minutes later, Natasha is walking back out. She's really only pulled joggers over her tights and traded her pointe shoes for some easy slip-ons, but she still looks great.

"I wasn't allowed in there, was I?" he asks sheepishly. Natasha smiles and shakes her head as she wraps her hands around his arm again. "Sorry. I just thought I'd come pick you up since I haven't in a while."

"I appreciate it," she tells him. Her dance bag swings from her shoulder though it's only carrying her pointe shoes. "Why'd you really come though?"

And just like that, the nerves return to his stomach. He blushes as Natasha looks up at him and he feels like an idiot as he stutters out some excuse about just wanting to see her. She laughs and he blushes harder.

"You saw me two hours ago at school."

"Maybe I got lonely!" he exclaims. Natasha shakes her head, still bubbling with laughter as they approach the subway. She lets him off the hook, thankfully, and they both find some seats on the subway.

They talk quietly during the ride and Steve can almost convince himself everything is perfectly normal. However, on the walk home from the subway, they pass Sam's house and Steve remembers why he'd really gone to pick Natasha up.

"Would you go to senior prom with me?" he blurts out. Natasha stops short and Steve prepares himself for rejection. He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly and looks at the ground as he says, "That's why I picked you up. Sam and Bucky thought it would be a good time to ask since we'd be alone and could even go out for dinner, but I got nervous and forgot about the dinner part, so here I am blurting it out on the sidewalk. It's okay if you don't-"

He's cut off by Natasha's lips meeting his. He startles and Natasha pulls back quickly. She takes a couple of extra steps backward and Steve's confused as to why until he realises it puts her out of his reach in case he lashes out. Even a year later and she's still struggling to recover from Alexei's abuse.

"I just... it's cute when you ramble," Natasha says quietly. Torn between blushing or reassuring Natasha he isn't going to hurt her, he stays still. "But, it's a yes to the prom question. Just in case you didn't get that."

Steve chuckles and reaches for Natasha. He grabs her hands and pulls her to his chest. Still laughing quietly, he cups her face and kisses her softly. They both smile into it and when they break away, Natasha lets out a short laugh as well. The moment is ruined when loud cheering to their right startles them.

"Go, Stevie!" Bucky and Sam scream from a window. Steve turns bright red as they cheer some more, having forgotten they were standing in front of their best friend's house. Instead of turning red like Steve, Natasha joins the cheering and pumps her fist over her head. Bucky and Sam both laugh and a split second later, they're on the sidewalk beside Steve and Natasha, teasing and congratulating them.

* * *

May is the hardest month of all. Natasha skips senior trip just to get three more last-minute rehearsals in before the big show. The class trip is supposed to get back two hours before the performance and Natasha just can't risk getting back late or skipping any practices, so she skips the trip instead. Bucky, Sam, and Steve whine for a day before they realise they're not going to change her mind. They do make her feel bad about her decision which makes them feel bad in return and they spend the next night watching movies and promising Natasha they aren't upset.

During the few days her class is gone on their senior trip, Natasha practices hard. Ms. Rogers worries over her, though Natasha feels like part of that worry is just because she doesn't have Steve to fret over at the moment. She does listen when the older woman tells her to be home right after practice the next day. A part of her feels bad for Ms. Rogers and the fact that she's kind of invaded her home, but the other part knows Steve's mom would rather be bankrupt than not have Natasha living with them.

"You have everything you need, right?" Ms. Rogers asks as Natasha trips over herself to get to the theatre. It's finally time for her first performance and Natasha is nearly in tears she's so nervous.

"Yeah," Natasha replies, checking her dance bag once again. Ms. Rogers opens the door and they both hurry to the subway station down the street (Natasha isn't sure why Ms. Rogers wants to come so early, but she's not going to say no as the extra support is probably the only thing keeping her together right now).

It seems like hours and seconds at the same time by the time Natasha arrives at the theatre. Ms. Rogers kisses her cheek then goes to wait at the front doors while Natasha rushes inside to get ready. The dance studio has hired makeup artists that get to work on her as soon as she's dressed and sat down. Within an hour, her makeup and hair are done and she just has to wait for the show the begin.

When there's only five minutes until the curtains open, Natasha nearly passes out. Steve had texted her there were at least five scouts in the audience and she had no doubt they were there to see her. She manages to stay upright and fully conscious and right as the curtains open, she takes a deep breath and follows her fellow dancers on stage.

* * *

After the performance, it takes Natasha a total of seven minutes and thirty-two seconds to come crashing into Steve. He barely has time to figure out what's going on before she's scrambling out of her arms and moving on to hug Ms. Rogers, Bucky, and then Sam. She's not in her fancy tutu anymore, but her hair and makeup are still flawless and her leotard and tights are covered by a tracksuit. Steve would love to kiss her breathless, but he doesn't want to get her in trouble before her second show in five hours.

"So, how did it go? What did you think?" Natasha asks, looking between all of them anxiously. There's really only one thing on Steve's mind and he feels really stupid after he blurts it out.

"I love you."

Of course, everyone around him laughs, but he doesn't take it back. Natasha grins widely and gives him a short kiss (it's much shorter than it should have been if you ask Steve). Bucky tells her it was beautiful and easily the best performance they'd ever watched. Natasha lets him know he's full of crap and asks for Sam's opinion.

"It was gorgeous, Nat," he replies. Natasha just beams and talks with them a little while longer before she's forced to go backstage again and wait to begin her second performance later that night. Steve, Sam, Bucky, and Ms. Rogers all wait up for her when she gets home at midnight just because they bought a cake and want to celebrate.

* * *

Graduation day is busy. None of them really remember it, if they're honest. One moment, they were listening to some old guy talk and the next Ms. Rogers was squishing them all together for a photo. Bucky's family steals him away after a few minutes and Sam's does as well. Ms. Rogers gets so many photos of the group, though, Steve's pretty sure she won't need anymore. At least, that is until she takes another five hundred photos of him and Natasha doing any and every pose they can think of.

"Ma," Steve finally says, giving her an annoyed look. Natasha's on his back, still grinning widely and making all sorts of faces. Ms. Rogers takes three more photos then relents.

"Fine," she agrees, "Let's go get lunch."

Steve and Natasha say goodbye to all their friends even though there's a big graduation party tomorrow night where they'll see them all again, then follow Ms. Rogers to the car. They change out of the caps and gowns before walking into the restaurant, but that doesn't stop Ms. Rogers from telling the wait staff they had just graduated. They get more cake at the end of their meal then head home. When they step inside, there's a thick envelope addressed to Natasha from the Royal Ballet in London, England that makes them all forget Ms. Rogers had grad presents.

Natasha takes her time opening it, leaving them all in suspense as she pulls out the letter and begins to read. She doesn't read it out loud and her face doesn't give away any hints. Steve's on the verge of ripping it out of her hands to find out for himself if she got in when she suddenly screams and throws herself at both Steve and Ms. Rogers.

"I got in! I got in!" she shrieks, nearly deafening them. She shoves the letter at Steve and grins widely as she recites what he reads. "Full ride scholarship and everything."

Steve pretty much forgets his mom is right next to him as he gathers Natasha in his arms and kisses her fully. Her excited shouts are muffled momentarily and she melts into his touch. Both of them smile halfway into the kiss and pull away when Natasha starts to laugh again.

"I'm so proud of you," Steve tells her. And it's true. The pure love and joy he feels for her mixing with the pride he has for her in this moment are too overwhelming and he finds himself kissing her again, unable to find any other way to express just how much he loves her and how proud of her he is.

"Alright," Ms. Rogers says, drawing them apart. She's smiling as well and has to fight Steve to hug Natasha next. She glares playfully at him over Natasha's shoulders then smiles at both of them as she pulls away. "I think this calls for even more cake."

As if she knew exactly what that envelope would hold and had prepared ahead of time, Ms. Rogers goes to the fridge and pulls out a huge chocolate cake. Steve's eyes widen and he's pretty sure he's never seen a cake that beautiful. He doesn't get long to admire it before his mom is cutting it and handing out pieces, kissing their cheeks and telling them both she's never been prouder.


End file.
